1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to a single-package air conditioner having an indoor heat exchanger unit and an outdoor heat exchanger unit housed in a single housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many types of air conditioner. For example, some air conditioners are of a xe2x80x9cseparate typexe2x80x9d having an indoor unit and an outdoor unit built in separate packages. This type of air conditioner is inconvenient to use in a building that does not permit the outdoor unit to be readily installed outside it, such as a hotel or a building located in a heavily inhabited area. In such buildings, it is customary to use single-package air conditioners having an indoor heat exchanger unit and an outdoor heat exchanger unit housed in a single housing.
Among single-package air conditioners as described above, smaller models designed to cool and heat one room are typically installed by being fitted directly in a window or in an opening formed in a wall. By contrast, larger models of single-package air conditioners designed to cool and heat a plurality of rooms are generally installed by being placed on a deck formed so as to protrude into a room from a wall facing outdoors or on a stand placed by a window in a room. U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,296 discloses an example in which a single-package air conditioner is placed on a deck formed so as to protrude from a vent provided in a wall.
A problem with single-package air conditioners like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,296 is that they are considerably heavy and require much labor to lift them up, making their installation difficult. Another problem is that it is not easy to connect air conditioning ducts and drain hoses to single-package air conditioners.
In larger models of single-package air conditioners as described above, the housing is commonly built by joining together panels of sheet metal. Joining panels together produces rectangular corners. Air passages are no exception. As air flows through an air passage, eddies of wind are produced in the rectangular corners of the air passage. Thus, another problem is that such eddies of wind increase the draft resistance of air passages and increase blowing noise.
An object of the present invention is to facilitate the installation of a single-package air conditioner having an indoor heat exchanger unit and an outdoor heat exchanger unit housed in a single housing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a single-package air conditioner that permits easy recovery from failure and easy regular maintenance. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a single-package air conditioner that operates with reduced draft resistance of outdoor and/or indoor air passages and with reduced blowing noise.
To achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, a single-package air conditioner having an indoor heat exchanger unit and an outdoor heat exchanger unit housed in a single housing is structured in the following manner. The indoor heat exchanger unit and the outdoor heat exchanger unit together constitute a single cooler/heater unit. Moreover, the housing is connected to an air conditioning duct suspended from above. Furthermore, the cooler/heater unit can be put into and taken out of the housing with the housing kept connected to the air duct. With this structure, it is possible to install only the housing first, and then insert the cooler/heater unit in the housing to complete the installation. This helps reduce the weight to lift up as compared with when handling a single-unit air conditioner in a fully assembled state, and thus makes installation easier.
According to the present invention, the housing has its four side faces formed of four panels, of which three other than the one facing a wall are individually removable from the housing. With this structure, the cooler/heater unit can be put in and taken out of the housing through whichever of the front, left-hand side, and right-hand side faces thereof is most convenient. This makes installation and checking easy.
According to the present invention, in the housing is provided a duct that connects to the air conditioning duct and whose height is variable inside the housing. With this structure, the duct is raised when the cooler/heater unit is put in and taken out and, once the cooler/heater unit is placed in position, the duct is lowered and connected to the cooler/heater unit. This permits easy connection between the cooler/heater unit and the duct.
According to the present invention, the cooler/heater unit is provided with a drain pan for collecting the drain water produced in the cooler/heater unit, and the housing is provided with a water collecting sink for collecting and discharging the drain water from the drain pan of the cooler/heater unit. With this structure, it is possible to reliably collect drain water and discharge it out of the air conditioner. Moreover, the cooler/heater unit can be built as a unit including a drain pan so that it can be put into and taken out of the housing together with the drain pan.
According to the present invention, the housing can be connected to the air conditioning duct without the cooler/heater unit housed in the housing. With this structure, the housing can be connected to the air conditioning duct easily. Moreover, when the cooler/heater unit is checked, it can be taken out and put into the housing with the housing kept connected to the air conditioning duct. This makes checking easy.
According to the present invention, the housing can be connected to a drain hose without the cooler/heater unit housed in the housing. With this structure, the housing can be connected to the drain hose easily. Moreover, when the cooler/heater unit is checked, it can be taken out and put into the housing with the housing kept connected to the drain hose. This makes checking easy.
According to the present invention, in a single-package air conditioner having a cooler/heater unit housed in a housing, when a component forming part of a blower fan casing included in the cooler/heater unit is removed, an opening appears through which to maintain a fan provided inside the blower fan casing. With this structure, the fan can be maintained without touching the components arranged in front of the blower, and thus the fan can be maintained easily.
According to the present invention, in a single-package air conditioner having a cooler/heater unit housed in a housing, heating means for heating is arranged inside the housing, and the heating means can be fitted and removed through either of the left-hand and right-hand side faces of the housing. With this structure, the heating means can be fitted and removed through either of the left-hand and right-hand side faces of the housing. Even when the single-package air conditioner is installed in a corner of a room, the heating means can be fitted and removed through either of the left-hand and right-hand side faces. This makes checking and repair of the heating means easy.
According to the present invention, the heating means is fixed in position with one end thereof engaged with an engagement recess inside the housing and with the other end thereof fastened with a screw to a member provided inside the housing. With this structure, the heating means can be fixed in position with a few screws, which helps reduce the costs of components and assembly.
According to the present invention, temperature sensing means for controlling the energization of the heating means is arranged above the heating means, and the temperature sensing means has the temperature sensing portion thereof housed in a container having a vent through which to allow a flow of hot air in from the heating means. With this structure, the flow of hot air has sufficiently uniform temperature to permit stable temperature sensing.
According to the present invention, in a single-package air conditioner having a cooler/heater unit housed in a housing, when the cooler/heater unit is inserted in the housing, a hermetic connection portion is formed between a vent opening formed in the housing and the cooler/heater unit. With this structure, it is possible to minimize leakage of wind and thereby make efficient use of energy.
According to the present invention, a single-package air conditioner has a housing in which are housed an indoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat with air inside a room, an indoor blower for blowing air into the room, an indoor air passage through which wind produced by the indoor heat exchanger is passed, an outdoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat with air outside the room, an outdoor blower for blowing air out of the room, an outdoor air passage through which wind produced by the outdoor heat exchanger is passed, and a partitioning member for partitioning at least part of the indoor and outdoor air passages. Here, the partitioning member has a portion thereof formed into a curved-surface portion for guiding the wind passing through one of the indoor and outdoor air passages. With this structure, the wind passing through one of the indoor and outdoor air passages is guided by the partitioning member having the curved-surface portion. Thus, it is possible to guide wind with a comparatively inexpensive, simple structure without providing additional components and thereby prevent development of eddies of wind that cause blowing noise. In this way, it is possible to reduce blowing noise.
According to the present invention, the curved-surface portion serves also as a diffuser portion for diffusing the wind passing through the other of the indoor and outdoor air passages. With this structure, the direction of wind is changed smoothly by one surface of the curved-surface portion of the partitioning member, and a diffusing effect is exerted by the other surface thereof This helps reduce the draft resistance of both the indoor and outdoor air passages, and in addition reduce the blowing noise of both the indoor and outdoor air passages. All this is achieved with an inexpensive structure.
According to the present invention, the curved-surface portion faces an outdoor inflow opening, and has an arc-shaped section whose radius R satisfies min(Ra, Rb)xe2x89xa7R, where Ra represents the dimension of the portion of the outdoor inflow opening facing the partitioning member and Rb represents the dimension of the outdoor air passage. With this structure, it is possible to reduce draft resistance and blowing noise more effectively.
In addition, the dimensions mentioned above satisfy Rbxe2x89xa7Ra and R≈Ra as well. With this structure, it is possible to reduce draft resistance and blowing noise even more effectively.